Stories and Whiskey
by Rhianna L'Ebhra
Summary: ...or how Vaan's perspective on life changed throughout the circumstances he lived through, and that time he almost didn't. From pre- to post-game. Rating is T .


**All things FFXII-related belong to Square Enix and all other related parties. I only own the OC.**

**Rating is really a T+, but there's no option for that, so...**

**Also a big thanks to my friend for bothering me every day until I finished this. This would have not been finished had he not.**

* * *

The first time Vaan sees her, she's sitting in a corner of the Sandsea, nursing a mug of whiskey with her back to the spot where the two walls meet. Penelo's already half-dragging him over to the table, insistent on meeting this new person, and Vaan isn't really putting up much of a fight, because he's curious by nature, too.

The strange girl—young woman really, she's obviously a few years older than them, but Vaan doesn't really care, his curiosity is in overdrive now—looks faintly disgruntled when the two of them insist on sitting with her and engaging in conversation, but she doesn't make to leave, which the two younger children take as a good sign. Vaan commences to talking the newcomer's ears off, jumping from topic to topic like a mad Wyrdhare, and Penelo is looking at her strange clothing wide-eyed and amazed, her eyes catching every so often on the lethal twin daggers strapped to her thighs. Tomaj chases the duo out after a while, claiming Vaan's running mouth is scaring off valuable customers and shouldn't they be completing errands for Migelo instead of hanging around here, and they leave, albeit slowly. They figure it will be the last they'll see of her, and Vaan had _so_ wanted to hear the stories she doubtless had to tell.

* * *

The rumors start a few weeks later, just before Reks heads off to war. Vaan hears murmurs on the streets about plots and rebellions and counterplots, and he's suddenly much more worried for his brother, who is going to be marching off to Nabradia in a scant seven days. Vaan begs his brother not to go, to hide with him, somewhere in the expanse of Dalmasca, to _ignore_ the fact that he has to go fight in this brewing war, but his brother just smiles at him. It's a shaky smile, Vaan realizes later, because his brother knows the odds are stacked against him ever coming back and reuniting with his only family ever again, but he's going to go anyway because Reks wants to fight for what he believes in, and so that his little brother can have the freedom to play at sky pirates with his friends in Lowtown.

A month after Reks leaves, Vaan gets word that his brother has died trying to protect the king, slain by none other than Captain Basch fon Ronsenburg.

* * *

Two years pass, and Vaan's loneliness and utter grief slowly harden into a bitter anger that still does not wholly squash his curiosity for life and thirst for adventure. He runs errands for Migelo from an hour after sunup until long after sundown, and although most of that time is spent dawdling or trying to keep his younger friends out of the sewers, it's still time well-spent and paid for, something to keep his mind off the fact that he's now truly an orphan like the rest of his friends.

It's after another run-in with Archadian guards that Penelo catches him outside the Sandsea and scolds him for stealing, and whether it's because of their location or the brief flash of anger in his blonde-haired friend that Vaan literally almost never sees, he suddenly thinks of two years ago and a young woman with twin daggers and a mug of whiskey sitting in a corner. He wonders what happened to her.

* * *

The word in the streets is that the Archadian consul is none other than the Emperor's third son, Vayne Solidor. He's rumored to be the most cunning, and therefore the most dangerous, which is why the Archadian Empire wants him out of Archades, away from their counsel and their king in case he tries anything. They say he is a snake, but Vaan doesn't care what he is. What matters is that Rabanastre, and all of Dalmasca, is now under Archadian rule, and people are not happy about it.

When Vayne gives his speech—his haughty, high-born speech—Vaan glares at him, wanting nothing more than to leap up on the stage with the brown-haired man and strangle him in order to somehow get the threat of Archadian rule _out_, but the fact that Penelo is there with him holds him in check. He holds himself back for her sake, and tells himself that it is because killing rats in the sewers is much different from killing men.

He hates it.

* * *

Vaan is out of Rabanastre, running with sky pirates—_sky pirates_, Vaan can't believe it—after they've split away from the woman who called herself Amalia, who obviously didn't want them, and the older hume and the viera are leading him on to somewhere they hope they'll be safe, and suddenly they run into _her_, and she's bleeding and her twin daggers are clenched tightly in white-knuckled fists and she's pale, far too pale to be healthy, and the viera takes out a bottle and sprinkles some downy feathers across her face and she _gasps_ and jerks up. The sky pirate—Balthier he calls himself—takes her by the arm and pulls her along with them, and they keep running.

* * *

They're in the Nalbina dungeons, thrown in for trying to escape a burning city while in possession of a powerful artifact, and Vaan hates it. He wants to kick something, punch someone, he wants to _get out_. Balthier is infuriatingly calm about it, and Fran isn't even _there_, nor is the woman they rescued. There's nothing Vaan can do. He hates it.

* * *

They're out, and Fran has reacquired their weapons and items. Vaan doesn't know where the other woman is, but Fran says she's out and long gone, so Vaan contents himself with the knowledge that she's probably all right for now and that he'll just have to wait and see if their paths ever cross again.

* * *

Vaan lays eyes upon Basch for the first time, and he sees red. He wants to kill him, stab the captain in the stomach as the man did to his brother, watch as the light goes out of his eyes and his hands try unsuccessfully to keep his intestines inside of him. He leaps.

Basch throws him off, and it is such a blow to Vaan's pride—he has been practicing with his short sword for two years, he has killed _rats_—that he deflates almost immediately and meekly follows the sky pirates and fallen captain out of the tunnels beneath the Nalbina dungeons and back to Rabanastre, sulking the whole way.

* * *

Migelo is panicked when they return to Rabanastre, his snout wrinkled from worry and strain. He implores them to go after Penelo in Bhujerba. Balthier and Fran agree to be Vaan's transportation, and Basch agrees to go along probably because he feels indebted for the sword or something.

They set off from the aerodrome in record time due to Vaan's insistence.

* * *

When they get to the Lhusu Mines, Basch has to hold Vaan back from rushing in to save his lifelong friend. Balthier and Fran raise eyebrows at him, while the new addition—Lamont—merely nods his assent to travelling with them through the mines as well. The five set off, and Vaan sets his face into what he hopes looks determined and unbending.

They run into her again at the Oltan Span, where she's obviously just finished killing a few Slaven, and this time Vaan makes sure to ask the question that's been burning in the back of his mind for the past two and a half years before the shock on her face wears off and she disappears again.

"Wait! What's your name?" She looks at him strangely, as though she can't really believe that someone would want to know her name, before she answers with a short, clipped sentence.

"My name is Rena." She looks as though she's going to bolt, but Lamont stops her, and though Vaan thinks the kid is a bit haughty and stuck up at times, he has to give him props for this moment.

"No, come with us. We could use some help, and you are clearly quite capable. We would be happy if you could help us get where we need to be." She falters, and Vaan pounces on the chance.

"Yeah! Come on, come with us. We could really use your help. Please?" He sees her resistance crumble behind her eyes, and she nods silently. They set off again, Lamont leading on and Rena taking up the back.

* * *

They rescue Penelo from the three bangaa holding her hostage, and Rena finally bolts, along with Lamont, before they head out of the mines to meet with Marquis Ondore. Basch confronts him with the truth of everything, and for their effort the party is thrown into the jails of the airship Leviathan.

They break out, and Fran finally goes berserk from the effect of the Mist when they reach the Judge who is in charge. She is a well-oiled, beautiful machine, if a deadly one, and soon all is silent. They return to Bhujerba, their collective mood somber and hushed, and Amalia—Princess Ashe, Vaan has to remind himself—insists on going to the Tomb of Raithwall to prove her birthright. Basch has already pledged his allegiance, and so Vaan insists on going as well, as the pain of an orphaned brother is not so quickly forgotten. Penelo insists on following her childhood friend wherever he goes, of course, and Balthier and Fran follow them out, Balthier claiming his place as leading man will not let him lose them so easily and Fran along for the ride because she is Balthier's leading lady.

They start for the Estersand.

* * *

The Tomb of Raithwall is a long trek from Rabanastre, and everyone is tired when the party finally reaches the steps leading up to the fabled tomb. Tempers are thin, and Ashe has snapped at the others quite a few times. Perhaps this is why no one is watching the skies when the Garuda-Egi drops from the ether and attacks their party. Its talons catch in Penelo's back, and it carries her a short distance before dropping her, the sickening crack the action causes jolting everyone out of their stunned poses. Vaan is the first to reach her, and he is so worried that he can only drop to her side, choked noises escaping from his mouth as tears fall from his eyes. Fran, ever the steady one, pulls out another small vial and scatters shining feathers around Penelo's face as Balthier and Basch hold the blonde-haired youth back. There is a pause, pregnant with worry, but nothing happens. Vaan croaks out another sound and falls to his knees again, huddling in on himself, his throat too dry and lips too cracked to let him voice his sobs.

And then Penelo shrieks and shoots up, and Vaan shoots himself across the desert sands to her, tackling her in a relentless grip. Fran stands again on long legs and draws her bow, and Balthier his gun. It is understood that the two children will sit out this battle, and for once Vaan does not feel the need to assert his capabilities, happy with knowing that his childhood friend is still in the land of the living. He is all right with sitting this fight out.

* * *

Ashe sees something that the rest of them don't, that much is obvious. She grips the nethicite, and _something_ happens. There is a burst of light, and the rest of the party shields their eyes. When the room has dimmed enough to see, there is nothing to meet their eyes. Ashe turns to them and nods that they are done, and the look on her face will allow no argument. The party leaves the tomb and heads to Mount Bur-Omisace.

* * *

The party meets Lamont again at Mount Bur-Omisace, and another twist—he is actually Larsa Solidor, the youngest of the Solidor family. Vaan wonders briefly when people will stop lying about their identities—really, everything is much easier when one is truthful about who they are, and he's had a hard enough time getting used to Amalia as Princess Ashe, and now he has to accept the fact that the kid that kind-of-sort-of helped them out in the Lhusu Mines is the little brother of the snake who is currently consul of Rabanastre. Vaan just sighs and shakes his head and goes along with the rest of the party when Ashe insists on going to retrieve the Sword of Kings.

When they return, a Judge is there and the Gran Kiltias is dead, and a fight breaks out as Larsa runs for it, worry etched across his face at the news of his dead father.

Vaan, for the first time in his life, says a small prayer and hopes that Larsa will pull through whatever it is that is going on back in Archadia, before drawing his sword and rushing the Judge with Penelo and Ashe.

* * *

They travel to Draklor Laboratory, and again there is a case of dual identities—Balthier is actually Doctor Cid's son, and Vaan doesn't even _know_ how to pronounce his name, so he doesn't try. Instead he guards the doors with Penelo and Ashe, and they let Balthier and Fran and Basch take care of the doctor.

Cid escapes, of course, and they run after him, back through lower Archades and towards the Sochen Palace, but Vaan stops when he sees the flash of twin daggers strapped to a belt, and he dashes towards her, calling her name. "Rena!"

She pauses and turns to face him, then waves and dashes off, quickly disappearing in the crowd of beggars and cripples. Vaan curses and begins to chase after her, but Balthier grabs his arm and stops him.

"You can catch up with your little lady friend later. Right now, we have business to attend to." Vaan glares at the sky pirate, but his grumbling is only half-hearted and he follows the rest of the party willingly enough.

He belatedly wonders why they keep running into her as the Strahl maneuvers through the Jagd near the Ridorana Cataract.

* * *

Ashe again sees something the rest of them cannot, and when all is over, she turns to them and explains everything. The minds of both Vayne and Doctor Cid have been warped by the heretic Occuria and the manufactured nethicite, and they believe that they can wrest the reins of history and control from the hands of the other Occuria. Ashe explains all this with such a venomous look on her face that Vaan briefly wonders if she is in her right mind at the moment.

They all agree to take the two madmen down, each last one of them determined to end the madness that has been brewing for much too long.

* * *

It happens when they are heading back to the Strahl from the Pharos at Ridorana.

Vaan is with Penelo and Ashe fighting a pack of enraged Humbaba, and they're horribly outnumbered. Balthier and Fran and Basch are, of course, too far away to reach them in time, and Ashe is bleeding badly, and of course they're all out of Phoenix Downs and Penelo can't get away to gulp down an ether and they're all much too low on magic power, and oh gods Vaan can feel the hot breath of a berserk Humbaba on his neck and he doesn't have time to move before he hears the thing roar right behind him and feels the whoosh of air just before giant claws tear his torso apart and _no, he's not supposed to die like this—_

Blackness.

Horrid, horrible, numbing blackness. Vaan can't see anything, not even himself, and he can't feel anything either, nothing at all—the blackness is so thick it's swallowing him, and then suddenly there's a tiny pinprick of light and he's running towards it and then he gasps and the feeling in his body returns and he can see again. He looks around, and Fran is already moving away from him and towards a groaning Ashe, her body a mess of bruises and lacerations. Vaan breathes a shuddering sigh of relief, picks up the Phoenix Down Fran has left by his side, and goes to sprinkle some over Penelo's face.

He vows never to let himself run short on supplies again.

* * *

They take to the skies to board the Bahamut and take down Vayne, and Vaan is surprised-but-not to find Rena on board the ship as well. She merely smiles slightly at the disbelieving looks on everyone else's faces and shrugs with one shoulder. "I figured you'd want a little extra help," she explains. "After all, you all look pretty roughed up. The Ridorana Cataract isn't very friendly, and heading off to a big battle in the sky right after coming from there?" She shrugs with the shoulder again. "Let me come with you. Willingly, this time."

No one objects, and Rena sits down to sharpen her twin daggers and clean the blood from them.

* * *

The party boards the Bahamut, and Rena follows slightly behind. They come across Gabranth, and the Judge taunts his brother. Basch merely scoffs and throws out something about loyalty and dogs.

They fight. No one interferes. Vaan wants to, but Rena holds him back and shakes her head, so he gives up. He hates being unable to help.

* * *

The brothers finish fighting, and Larsa insists on staying with Gabranth. Rena stays as well, saying that it wouldn't do well to leave the last hope of an empire with a dying man when there are enemies everywhere. The party leaves them, Vaan and Penelo sparing a last worried look before they turn a corner and lose the three from their sight.

* * *

Fighting Vayne is the hardest thing Vaan has ever done. Not because he feels bad—although there _is_ the fact that if they succeed in killing Vayne then Larsa will be orphaned, and Vaan knows how much that hurts—and not because he's not confident in himself, but because the brown-haired tyrant is _good_. He knows damn well how to fight, and Vaan wishes for a moment—blindly, painfully _wishes_, so hard that he sees white and his heart stutters—that they hadn't left Rena with Larsa and Gabranth. She could have been the tipping point in their favor, and Vaan doesn't want to lose.

The six of them strike as one, and Vayne roars. It is a sickening sound. Vaan hates it.

* * *

The Bahamut tumbles to the ground, and they run for their lives. They lose Balthier and Fran somewhere along the way, and Penelo _drags_ Vaan away, Rena appearing beside them and pulling at Vaan's other arm. The fight goes out of him suddenly, and his head droops momentarily before he follows them, Larsa and Basch hot on their heels.

They run for the Strahl, and Vaan and Penelo pilot them away from the wreckage that threatens Rabanastre.

There are no dry eyes.

* * *

Most of the wreckage from the Bahamut lands in the Sands, both the Westersand and the Estersand, but a few stray pieces do land in the capital of Dalmasca. The people of Rabanastre rally together to rebuild the broken city, small groups of people combing through each area and salvaging all they can. Vaan and Penelo and their small group of followers stay near the merchants' end, and Vaan swears he sees the flash of twin daggers every so often as his group combs through the ruins of what was once the Sandsea. It's a comforting thought for Vaan, that Penelo is not the only one that he can talk to in Rabanastre about what has happened, that there is someone else, someone _close_, who knows what he went through.

She disappears when the scavenging is done, and a part of Vaan aches as he wonders if he'll ever see her again, if they'll ever be able to swap stories over a mug of whiskey.

* * *

As Vaan is leaving the newly-rebuilt Sandsea for the first time after everything is over, he takes one last look around. The bar is doing well, men and women alike sitting and drinking after a long day of work. He allows himself a glance to the corner, and he's not really surprised to see her sitting there, nursing a mug of whiskey with her back to the spot where the two walls meet. He thinks he understands now.


End file.
